Description

UNICEF correspondent Thomas Nybo reports from Barbados on efforts to eradicate corporeal punishment from schools.

Transcript

Implementing Positive Discipline in Schools in Barbados Host: Look past the postcard-perfect beaches of Barbados and you’ll find a thorny issue dividing much of this small island nation. A debate is raging about whether to continue using corporal punishment when disciplining its children. The practice, also known as whipping or flogging, goes back generations and has come in both homes and schools, despite evidence that hitting children in this fashion is harmful to their development. Tom Olsen is UNICEF’s representative in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. Tom Olsen: All international and regional studies -- studies which we have done with children themselves, speaking out about corporal punishment and how discipline is enforced into schools shows it doesn't work. He says violence is on the rise and that teachers, principals and government officials were to quick to point out that teachers are actually losing control of children ins schools. Host: The country’s top education officer at the Ministry of Education knows all too well the deep opposition to ending the practice. Dr. Idamay Denny: People in the Barbadian society, they feel very strongly that we have become what we have become because we have been subject to corporal punishment and they feel that we should not temper with removing corporal punishment. Host: Winter Pilgrim teaches 10 and 11-year-olds. He used to be a firm believer in corporal punishment until it drove a wedge between him and his daughter. Winter Pilgrim: Everything that was done in the past is not necessarily right and I think part of the change on transmission as we can with a relationship between my daughter and I where at one stage, I was called to her school and the teacher told me that she was afraid of me basically for the same reason because I was too strict or because of the administering of the punishment to her Host: A UNICEF-sponsored workshop helped him implement an alternative strategy the place to premium on owning one’s action and instead of just punishing bad behavior, clearly defined expectations and what constitutes good behavior. His new approach is paying big dividends with his students. Janae Nicholls: One time I used to be afraid of him but now, I am not so intense. I don’t have to watch myself. I can talk to my friends, I can be myself, I can show my personality. Host: Changing engrained cultural practices like corporal punishment is not easy but schools are learning in places like Barbados when intelligent alternatives are introduced, students, teachers and parents all come out ahead. This is Thomas Nybo reporting for UNICEF Television. For more information, go to UNICEF.org Unite for Children.